Hi. My name is Larry and I am a really great dog, so my owner says. I am part black lab and part really sweet dog - I'm the one on the left in the photo. I will be 5 years old soon. I was rescued to a new forever home when I was 1 ½ years old. My previous owner had to find me a new home, since I had a bad habit of running! I was hit by a car and had hurt my leg pretty bad.

My brother, Daryl and I were rescued and life has never been the same. We went immediately to obedience school and learned nice manners. Our owner says she began to see our TRUE heart and we began helping others.

We now travel to elementary schools and teach lessons on character education. We also go and help kids who are sad and may just need a dog to pet. We travel to visit our friends in the nursing home who have Alzheimer's and we also travel to visit our friends who are in a juvenile justice facility. We feel that it is really important to share love with everyone. We try to give love and kindness each day. We hope to make the world a better place with our Helping Paws!

My brother Daryl is my twin and my very best friend. Together, we really love working and meeting new friends everyday. We still love to run, dig and chew and do so each day!

Submitted by:

Amy E. Hicks

www.helpingpawinfo.com

Editor's Note: Larry and Daryl were rescued from the Cleveland TN animal shelter by Sue Little at Exclusively Shelter Pets (ESP), PO Box 4864, Cleveland TN. Today Larry and Daryl are members of Therapy Dogs International and Therapaws (a therapy dog group of Atlanta GA).

She wore an electric shock collar preventing her from wandering from within the grounds. One day her curiosity got the better of her and on chasing a rabbit she perforated her eye by running into a stick. Her previous owner left her with a damaged eye for two years and eventually brought her to the RSPCA centre stating she was not a good guard dog anyway.

The centre did wonders with her teaching her to walk on a lead and to lead a life with people around her. A year after being adopted she has now become a Pet as Therapy dog visiting a residential home for dementia patients and is tied for the Kennel Club bronze medal.

She has become the most obedient house dog any one could have.

About 10 years ago, a concerned citizen called a small animal welfare group to see if something couldn't be done about the cat who was chained to a truck tire in the subterranean garage of her apartment building. She had been trying to give him food and water him but he was fairly antagonistic at that point and she was afraid of him. A rescuer went out and unchained Mr. Lucky as he came to be known and brought him home to ensure his health, get him neutered and give him his shots.

As long as you just love him though, he's a dear. Being a friend of the rescuer, our family agreed to give Mr. Lucky a try to see if he fit in with the rest of our crew. And it was lucky for us as well as him. They let him think he's the boss, so he fits in fairly well with our other rescued cats. He's very interested in meeting my clients every day, and he loves to curl up next to you for hours on end.

So he's come to realize some compromises are necessary in life, although mind you, he's still pretty sure things should go according to "his" rules!

Once he got to know the rescuer, Mr. Lucky became extremely social and friendly - until you tried to get him to do something he didn't want to do. Like stay in a room by himself in quarantine to see if he was healthy. Or try and trim his nails. Or brush his beautiful long-haired coat. Or give him a bath. Or not serve him dinner fast enough when he thought he should eat. Or get him in a carrier to go to the vet or weekend adoptions. Or stay in a cage all day at weekend adoptions.So you can see it wasn't likely he was going to be adopted any time soon.

Dude, a seven-year-old Chow and German Shepard mix, is quite a unique dog. He was adopted from the Santa Clarita, California, shelter by a caring family of two parents and four children in Acton, California. Sadly, Dude had been abused as a puppy, but this new family chose him because of his cute appearance, his sweet personality, and the fact that they knew they would be able provide Dude with a good, loving home. Dude has many interesting and endearing qualities about him. He loves to play with the chickens and the family’s 15-month-old boy. Also, Dude has a habit of chasing bees, but he learned his lesson one day.

As he was playing with the bees by the apple trees, he swallowed a few, which resulted in a trip to the vet. Dude also enjoys taking long walks around the block and trips to the local park, where he gets to interact with other neighborhood dogs and children. He resides in a wonderful, affectionate home and is one lucky pup. Dude’s really enjoying his life now and his family couldn’t have been more pleased with their choice in adopting him. Author: Megan Brausam

Annie (formerly “Princess”) is a ten-year-old Border Collie/Australian Shepherd who shares her life with a semi-retired married couple in West Los Angeles. The rescue organization from which she was adopted nine years ago advertised in the “Los Angeles Times” that it had many great animals looking for homes, and the couple, who had recently lost their companion animal, was looking for a “neat dog who needed a home.” A few days earlier, Annie was found in a parking lot, and was adopted by a teenage girl and her mother. Unfortunately, their other dogs were very aggressive chasing Annie and biting her ears. The rescuers tried, but could not get the other dogs to leave her alone. So, reluctantly, they brought her to the San Fernando Valley rescue organization, knowing it was a no-kill organization and hoping she would get a good home.

That rescue organization had more dogs waiting to get in than people there to adopt them. However, it worked for Annie. While she was still outdoors with the people who had recently rescued her, the new guardians drove up and spotted her. They fell in love with Annie immediately, heard about her plight, and adopted her on the spot. Life has been good for Annie. Her guardians only take road trips where she can go along, so she has been from Palm Springs to Carmel, Sedona to Berkeley, and even on their boat sailing to and from Catalina and around Lake Arrowhead. She’s a great swimmer, loves to dive into the water, and also goes for at least four walks a day. Timing was everything for Annie. The guardians still marvel about how they saw her sitting on the steps in line to be turned into a shelter when they first saw her. The tragedy of the overcrowded rescue organization actually resulted in a chance meeting. Life is good for Annie, and she’s a great source of joy to everyone she meets.